The active transmitter and receiver design fits on a 4 x 1.5 mm integrated circuit (IC), designed using special transistors with high-carrier mobility (HEMTs). The trick to the tiny size is the high frequencies -- the circuit operates in the 200-280 GHz band.

Top German electronics firms like Siemens AG (ETR:SIE) and KATHREIN-Werke KG are assisting on the project, eager to commercialize the design.

The new transmitter is printed on a tiny IC chip. [Image Source: KIT]

Aside from the terrific form factor -- which makes the new chip amenable to tablets, smartphones, laptops, and other mobile form factors -- the antenna also has excellent signal fidelity. In a larger long-range demonstrator (think routers), a signal was routed between two skyscrapers that were a kilometer (0.62 miles, for the metric-challenged) apart.

Professor Jochen Antes of KIT comments that the new design shows low attenuation in this frequency range, which enables broadband directional radio links. He comments, "This makes our radio link easier to install compared to free-space optical systems for data transmission. It also shows better robustness in poor weather conditions such as fog or rain."

The Germans shot the signal between skyscrapers in a test. [Image Source: KIT]

Some modems for the 802.11ac standard are already coming out. The new standard supports transfers of up to 1 Gbps for multi-station throughput and 500 Mbps for single-station throughput. Backwards compatible with the 2.4 GHz 802.11n, the pending new standard uses the 5 GHz band. It is currently in Draft 5.0 and is expected to receive early approval from the 802.11 Working Group by 2014.

It doesn't have anything to do with the spec's primary use; but it's been reported elsewhere that their intended use is rural broadband. Some current fixed wireless systems are built around the existing 802.11 standards but with the use of highly directional antennas to allow home base stations (functional equivalent to your dsl/cable/fiber modem) to connect with towers several miles away.

These companies are slow to upgrade though; as of last summer the one my friends parents were with was still using 802.11B based hardware. It's entirely possible that 802.11ac will be one of the wifi standards their infrastructure skips over like g was.

It states resilience to bad weather. 1.4cm of water will block the signal. If they had run that inter-building test in fog or rain there would have been no connection. It is definitely not weather resistant.